The day the sun vanished 3

"Nope."

"Could be another survivor."

"Could be a twelve-foot nightmare wearing a gym teacher."

Another clang came from inside.

Then a voice.

"Guys?"

Andy stopped breathing.

He knew that voice.

He knew the slight crack in it, the way it rose at the end of a question, and the nervous little laugh that always followed whenever the owner said something stupid.

It was the voice of his best friend.

"Andy? Travon? Billy?"

Grim was dead.

Andy had watched the street swallow him.

But the voice was coming from the equipment room.

"Guys, please. It's me."

Billy slowly looked at Andy.

"Don't."

Andy's eyes filled with tears.

"That's Grim."

"No," Travon said. "It's using his voice."

The equipment-room handle began to turn.

"Andy," the voice whispered.

A pause.

"Why didn't you save me?"

Andy's face crumpled.

Then the handle stopped.

Something on the other side began laughing.

Not like Grim.

Like something trying to remember how laughter worked.

Travon backed away.

"Everyone out. Now."

They ran toward the opposite exit.

Behind them, the equipment-room door burst open.

Something emerged.

It was tall, thin, and dressed in Grim's clothes.

Its arms hung almost to its ankles. Its black hair covered most of its face. Its head twitched from side to side as if it were listening to several conversations at once.

It took one step into the gym.

Then another.

And when it finally lifted its head, Andy saw Grim's face.

The creature smiled.

"Found you."

8:07 A.M. — The Hallway

The boys burst through the gym's side exit and raced into the hallway.

Travon led them toward the science wing, where a set of exterior doors opened onto the football field.

Behind them, the mimic followed.

It didn't run.

It walked slowly, dragging one foot along the floor.

Scrape.

Step.

Scrape.

Step.

"WHY IS IT WALKING LIKE THAT?" Billy shouted.

"STOP ASKING QUESTIONS AND RUN!" Travon yelled.

They rounded a corner.

The hallway stretched ahead of them, lined with classroom doors and dark windows.

At the far end stood another figure.

Andy.

He was wearing the same denim jacket, the same jeans, and the same muddy sneakers.

He stood beneath a flickering light, holding his phone.

"Guys?" the second Andy called.

The real Andy nearly stumbled.

Billy skidded to a stop.

Travon swore under his breath.

The figure at the far end raised its hand.

"Hey, Andy. Don't listen to the one behind you."

The mimic wearing Grim's face stopped walking.

For the first time, its smile disappeared.

The second Andy pointed toward it.

"That thing isn't Grim."

The real Andy looked between them.

One was wearing Grim's face.

The other was wearing his own.

Both seemed to know exactly who they were.

"Which one of you is real?" Travon demanded.

The Andy at the far end frowned.

"Seriously? It's me!"

"That's not an answer," Billy snapped.

The second Andy sighed.

"Okay. Ask me something only the real Andy would know."

Travon thought quickly.

"What happened at the quarry last summer?"

The second Andy answered immediately.

"You dared Billy to jump off the low ledge, and he landed in a bush."

"HEY!" Billy protested. "I didn't know there was a bush!"

Travon looked at the real Andy.

"Is that true?"

Andy nodded slowly.

The second Andy smiled.

"See? Now can we please get out of here?"

Behind them, the Grim mimic began making a strange clicking sound.

The second Andy's smile widened.

"Come on. We need to move."

Andy stared at him.

Something felt wrong.

Not his voice.

Not his clothes.

Not even the way he stood.

It was something smaller.

Something Andy couldn't immediately explain.

Then he remembered.

The Andy standing at the end of the hallway had a tiny scar across his right thumb. He'd gotten it opening a can of peaches during a camping trip.

Andy looked at the figure's hand.

No scar.

His stomach dropped.

"Travon," he whispered.

"What?"

"Don't go near him."

The second Andy stopped smiling.

For one second, its expression became completely blank.

Then its face began to change.

Its skin rippled like water.

Its eyes sank backward into its skull.

Its jaw dropped open, revealing rows of tiny, perfectly white teeth.

And when it spoke, its voice came from everywhere in the hallway.

"Oh, Andy."

The lights exploded.

Glass rained from the ceiling.

The Grim mimic shrieked.

And both creatures started running.

8:09 A.M. — The Science Wing

The three boys sprinted into a chemistry classroom and slammed the door.

Travon shoved a cabinet against it.

Billy dragged a laboratory table across the floor.

Andy stood frozen beside the teacher's desk.

He could still hear them outside.

Footsteps pounded down the hallway.

Then came his own voice.

"OPEN THE DOOR!"

Andy backed away.

"Andy, please! It's me!"

The voice changed.

Now it sounded like Billy.

"LET ME IN!"

Then Travon.

"HELP!"

Then Grim.

"ANDY, DON'T LEAVE ME!"

Andy clamped his hands over his ears.

"Stop it!"

The voices fell silent.

For a few seconds, nothing moved.

Then a soft knock came from the classroom door.

Three taps.

A pause.

Three more.

Travon raised a fire extinguisher.

Billy picked up a metal stool.

Andy stared at the door.

A familiar voice spoke from the other side.

"Andy?"

It was quieter now.

Almost gentle.

"I'm sorry."

Andy's eyes widened.

That was Grim's voice.

But it wasn't the mocking voice from the gym.

It sounded tired.

It sounded frightened.

It sounded like the real Grim.

"I don't want to be down here anymore," it whispered.

Andy took a step toward the door.

Travon grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't."

"But what if—"

"NO."

Travon's voice cracked.

"What if it's him?" Andy asked.

Travon stared at the floor.

For a moment, he looked as though he might cry.

Then he tightened his grip.

"If it's really Grim, he wouldn't ask you to open a door when he knows something's out there."

The voice outside went silent.

Then it whispered:

"Good answer, Travon."

A terrible scratching began against the door.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Something was writing on the other side.

When the scratching stopped, Billy cautiously leaned toward the narrow window.

He looked through the glass.

Then he stumbled backward.

"What?" Andy demanded.

Billy couldn't speak.

Travon moved toward the window.

On the other side stood the second Andy.

It was pressed against the glass, its forehead resting against the pane.

Its eyes were completely black.

And in one hand, it held a small piece of paper.

Written on it were five words.

I KNOW WHICH ONE IS REAL.

The creature raised its free hand and pointed directly at Andy.

Then it mouthed something.

You're next.

A loud crash erupted from the opposite side of the classroom.

The windows shattered inward.

The Grim mimic crawled through the broken frame, folding its limbs into impossible angles.

Travon screamed for the others to move.

Billy dove beneath the laboratory table.

Andy bolted toward the door.

The mimic landed on the floor behind them.

Its neck stretched upward.

Its face split into a familiar smile.

And then, in Andy's own voice, it said:

"Run faster."

They did.

8:12 A.M. — The Football Field

The boys burst through the exterior doors and sprinted across the empty football field.

The sky remained completely black.

No clouds.

No stars.

No sun.

Just a vast darkness that seemed to press down on the world.

Travon reached the bleachers first and ducked underneath them.

Billy followed.

Andy collapsed beside them, gasping for air.

For several moments, the only sound was their breathing.

Then Billy whispered, "I hate this school."

Travon almost laughed.

Almost.

Andy stared toward the building.

Through the windows, he could see two figures standing in the science classroom.

One wore Grim's face.

The other wore his own.

Both were watching him.

"How many are there?" Andy whispered.

Travon shook his head.

"I don't know."

"What do they want?"

"I don't know."

"Why do they keep coming after me?"

Travon looked at him.

"Because you recognize them."

Andy frowned.

"What?"

"The creatures use people we know. They imitate our friends. Our families. Maybe they want us to trust them."

He glanced back toward the school.

"Maybe they're learning how to be human."

Andy swallowed.

"Then why did the one wearing Grim try to kill us?"

Travon didn't answer.

Because he had begun to suspect something much worse.

The creatures weren't simply copying people.

They were taking pieces of them.

Their voices.

Their memories.

Their fears.

And perhaps, eventually, everything else.

Billy leaned forward to look through the bleachers.

"Guys?"

Travon turned.

Billy pointed toward the far end of the field.

A person was walking toward them.

Slowly.

Wearing a red hoodie.

Black jeans.

White sneakers.

The figure stopped beneath the goalpost.

It lifted its head.

Andy felt his heart drop.

"No."

The figure began walking again.

It was Grim.

Not the stretched, grinning creature from the school.

Not the thing that had crawled through the classroom window.

This looked exactly like the Grim they had known.

His messy hair.

His crooked smile.

His little scar above his eyebrow.

Even the way he held his shoulders.

Grim stopped a few feet from the bleachers.

"Guys?" he said.

His voice trembled.

"Why are you hiding?"

Andy couldn't move.

Billy's mouth fell open.

Travon slowly stood up.

"Grim?"

Grim nodded.

"Yeah, man."

He looked exhausted.

Terrified.

Human.

"I got out."

Andy stared at him.

"How?"

Grim glanced over his shoulder.

"I don't know. I just kept running."

Travon took a cautious step forward.

"Where did it take you?"

Grim's expression changed.

For a fraction of a second, his eyes became completely black.

Then they returned to normal.

"Somewhere dark."

He looked directly at Andy.

"Somewhere that knows all our names."

Andy began to cry.

He rushed forward and grabbed Grim in a desperate hug.

Grim hugged him back.

For a moment, the world felt almost normal.

Billy joined them.

Travon stood nearby, watching.

Grim rested his head against Andy's shoulder.

Then he whispered something.

Something so quiet that only Andy could hear it.

"Don't tell them I'm back."

Andy pulled away.

"What?"

Grim's expression remained perfectly calm.

"Don't tell them."

He glanced at Billy and Travon.

"They're not your friends."

Andy's blood turned cold.

Grim smiled.

Behind him, beneath the goalpost, a second shadow slowly stood up.

It was taller than Grim.

Much taller.

And it was smiling, too.

End of Chapter 3.

End of chapter one.